“Who knows the secrets of the human heart?” The Crying Game
The 1996 massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, involved Martin Bryant killing 35 people, becoming the worst single-shooting murderer in Australian history. Director Justin Kurzel and writer Shaun Grant carefully depict the disturbed Bryant (Caleb Landry Jones) in the time before the massacre. Only a little will you understand his motivations, but a great deal you will understand about filmmaking that lets an environment of people, places, and events be the catalysts for evil.
This Amazon Prime docudrama, Nitram (Martin spelled backwards), tries to depict Martin as introverted and strange—an outsider-- without actually presenting firm evidence that he was about to become infamous. Yet, inference does indict him as dangerously withdrawn and mentally confused by parents, especially his domineering mother (Judy Davis), who denies him the potentially palliative sport of surfboarding: “I’m your mother, I love you, but surfing’s not for you.”)
Without explaining or indicting him (never named, I presume, to preserve objectivity and prevent the film from glorifying him in real life). His wealthy friend (Essie Davis) contributes to his questionable eccentricity with no accurate way for the aud to see a connection to the murders. However, she is an enabler.
And so it goes until the chilling gun shop scene where his purchase of a number of potent arms prepares us for the mayhem (never shown) showing us how easily a psychopath can obtain guns. This scene is only message in the film, along with the postscript, to squarely confront the gun debate. Just letting the proprietor make sure Martin gets what he wants exposes the need for stricter gun controls. After 1996 and after stricter legislation, there are more guns in Australia than ever. Go figure.
When Martin eats a fruit cup at the Broad Arrow Café, I was reminded of Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, which doesn’t editorialize about the insanity of mass murder and its inscrutability. Only when you look at the environmental and familial influences can you begin to understand the madness.
Sitting home with your Prime account to assess this atrocity is a gift from this kind of art, which moves and informs without pushing. A good film allows you to draw your conclusions about the actor and the act. In the case of Martin, multiple clues are there, but no answer. You decide for yourself.
Nitram
Director: Justin Kurzel (Macbeth)
Screenplay: Shaun Grant (The History of the Kelly Gang)
Cast: Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out), Judy Davis (A Passage to India)
Run Time: 1h 52m
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts NPR’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics as well as podcasts Back Talk and Double Take out of WCBE 90.5 FM. Contact him at JohnDeSando62@gmail.com
